Spotify Empowers Artists to Manually Approve Releases to Tackle AI Counterfeits

Spotify is currently testing a new feature known as Artist Profile Protection, designed to allow artists to review their releases before they go live. This initiative addresses the frustrating issue of songs mistakenly appearing on the wrong artist pages due to metadata errors or shared names. Moreover, it aims to combat the rising problem of impostors and AI-generated fakes targeting artists.

High-profile names like Drake and Beyoncé, as well as experimental musicians such as William Basinski and indie rock bands like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, have all faced the challenge of fake tracks surfacing under their names on streaming platforms, some of which are likely AI-generated. This situation has sparked significant frustration among artists, with King Gizzard’s frontman Stu Mackenzie expressing a sense of doom and Basinski labeling it as “total bullshit.”

Artists participating in the beta will need to opt in to this feature. Once they do, any music associated with their profile will require approval before it can be displayed, whether that’s done by the artist or their team. While this adds an important layer of security, it also introduces an additional step in the release process on Spotify.

Although this added protection is a positive development, requiring manual approval for every release could pose challenges for independent artists and smaller labels with limited resources. To alleviate this, Spotify is providing artist keys to beta participants. This unique code, when included with the music, will enable automatic approval for releases.

Currently, Spotify refers to this feature as a “limited beta,” but they have indicated plans to expand it to “all artists as soon as we possibly can.”